Marlie Dodson: 8-year-old was 'a complete ray of sunshine'

Marlie Dodson had a sweet, old-soul personality that gave the 8-year-old a knack for empathizing with others.

"She's sitting there bald headed and skinny as could be, and she's worried about someone else's allergies or broken foot," said an aunt, Stephanie Champney of Lake Alfred. "She's always amazed me."

Marlie also had typical little-kid loves — drawing, camping, hanging out with cousins and cheering on UCF sports teams — and seemed to spread an infectious, giggly joy wherever she went.

"She was a complete ray of sunshine. She made everyone happy," said April Agnew of Orlando, another aunt. "She just left a trail of happiness behind her."

Marlie Kai Dodson died Dec. 31 after a battle with cancer.

The Orlando girl was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor when she was 3. Though she was in remission for more than two years, cancer and treatment dominated most of her short life.

That seemed to make her want to "embrace every moment," said her mother, Sarah Dodson.

Marlie taught her family — a tight-knit group of aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents in Central Florida — to appreciate the "very simple things in life."

Dodson added, "I think the battle really taught us about patience and being there — patience and love."

Because of her poor health, Marlie attended only one full year of school, doing first grade at the Polk County school where her mother teaches.

But as much as she was able, Marlie loved to do things with her four cousins and was a playful, silly girl who danced and sang. She loved the outdoors and was an avid fan of the basketball and football teams at University of Central Florida, the alma mater of her mother and other relatives.

She seemed to always think of others, asking to make cookies for her nurses at the hospital and drawing pictures for those who'd sent her good wishes.

"I didn't even have to encourage these things in Marlie. It made me look like a super mom, but it was all on her own," Dodson said. "She was just amazing all on her own."

Marlie was active in efforts to raise awareness about pediatric cancers. She enjoyed programs run by BASE Camp Children's Cancer Foundation, a charity that provides support to cancer patients and their families, and served as the group's ambassador.

"She just always had such a wonderful outlook," said Terri Jones, founder and president of BASE Camp. "Everybody fell in love with her. She was just funny and fun."

Even though she was so young, she had the ability to make other kids new to BASE Camp feel welcome and less frightened, Jones added. "She just touched our hearts."

Her cancer relapsed this past summer, and Marlie knew it before doctors confirmed it, said Dodson, who raised her daughter as a single mother.

"She knew that I would be sad … but she was ready to go be with Jesus," her mother said. "She had this tremendous peace about her. … She had an old soul."

Dodson knew that further treatment would do little to prolong her daughter's life and that it had already made her very ill. But they tried one more round of chemotherapy before stopping treatment in October. Dodson is convinced Marlie agreed to the last round for her mother's sake.